Her Diamonds

This was a dream I had MONTHS ago while crushing on my friend's character, Jester, concerning the song "Her Diamonds" by Rob Thomas. Enjoy! :D

When the dream started, I immediately noticed my legs were sore. The backs of my knees were hurting, so I knew it was due to the fact I had been standing a while. I blinked to clear my vision, and began shaking uncontrollably. I didn't have just oodles of room to shake in, because I was trapped. And freezing, ice cold. I tried to blink, but I couldn't move. All I felt was cold, and I looked around me best I could. Through blurry vision I could see people moving around, and hear noise. I still couldn't blink, and, oddly enough, the cold wasn't hurting me. My legs were just hurting from standing. I kept looking around and finally figured out where I was.

The familiar "dinging" noise. The smell of blood from the poorly wrapped meat in the meat department. The metallic rattling of buggies. The seemingly thousands of voices. The sound of children screaming. I was in the grocery store where I worked. I would have shrieked in joy if I could. Maybe someone in here could help me! I tried to move, but my body was held fast. I tried to scream, but no sound would come out. Why couldn't I move? I dabbed my finger pads over what was stopping me, trying to figure out what it was. My entire body was numb, so I couldn't feel a thing. I struggled to make my body feel, and at the same time, I could hear laughter.

"Look at that thing!"

"What IS it?"

"I think it's dead, isn't it?" someone asked, poking the invisible forcefield in front of me. I gasped mentally as I realized what it was: solid ice. As the realization dawned on me, I could hear drums playing in the background.

" 'Oh, what the hell.' she says, 'I just can't win for losing'. And she lays back down."

I blinked, the voice coming to me clearly despite the people walking by and mocking me. It sounded so far through the solid ice, yet so close, like right in my ear. It sounded so familiar, and I couldn't place who's it was. I racked my brain to figure out the lyrics, and remembered they were in the first verse to Rob Thomas's song, "Her Diamonds". Yet, it wasn't Rob singing, it was someone else.

"Man, there's so many times I don't know what I'm doing; like I don't know now." the music picked up, and I could see the sunlight starting to shine in through the glass at the front of the store, the voice singing AT me, as if aware I was there. "And by the light of the moon she rubs her eyes, says, 'It's funny how the night can make you blind.' I can just imagine..."

'Who IS that...?' I asked myself, shivering all over from the cold, my eyes stinging with the urge to cry, but no tears coming.

"And I don't know what I'm suppose to do, but if she feels bad, then I do too. So I let her be..." as if from Heaven, or some kind of magic, I saw the singer at last, his voice so clear it pierced my energy like a hot knife through butter. "And she says, 'Ooooooh, I can't take no more'. Her tears like diamonds on the floor, her diamonds bring me down. And I can't help her now, she's down in it. She tried to rest, and now she can't win it's hard to see them on the ground...her diamonds falling down!"

I watched, trapped, and transfixed as Jester appeared on the reflection of the ice coolers across the room. He seemed like he was upset, but I couldn't tell about what. His slight swaying and swinging to the beat of the song that blared louder than usual through the speakers was so....I don't know. I wanted to say perfect, but I knew somehow that wasn't the right adjective. His head tilted and rolled as he sang, reaching up occasionally to straighten his hat, even that slight movement seeming like an incorporated dance move. I watched in awe, wanting to get his attention, his help...but what COULD I do? Frozen solid, I didn't exactly have a lot of options. I sighed mentally, watching instead. If I was going to be frozen and laughed at forever, and suffer, I could at least see something before I gave up.

"Way down...She sits down and stares into the distance, and it takes all night." he sang, then glanced in my general direction. "And I know I could break her concentration, ohhh, but it don't feel right." I saw a smile smirk start to appear on his face as he turned towards me more, his reflection jumping to a nearby computer screen, his movements becoming more upbeat. "And by the light of the moon she rubs her eyes, sits down on her bed, and starts to cry. And there's something less about her. And I don't know what I'm suppose to do, so I sit down, and I cry too. But don't let her see." he said. 

Then, as if intentional, he looked right at me, grinning and singing, his expression that bright, flirtatious grin I was used to seeing. As he sang the chorus this time, the sunlight poured in through the windows. It was blinding at first, but the ice, which had been melting little by little with what little sunlight was visible, started to cry. He grinned wider, somehow KNOWING it was his doing. HE was bringing the sun. HE was freeing me. He shook his head with a slight laugh as he went into the chorus, the ice on my left hand busting where I could move.

"And she says, 'Ooooooh, I can't take no more.' Her tears like diamonds on the floor. And her diamonds bring me down, 'cause I can't help her now. She's down in it. She tried to rest, and now she can't win; it's hard to see them on the ground...her diamonds falling down!" he sang, his voice louder and more profound, the ice busting completely. 

I trembled uncontrollably, shaking and breathing uneven, my breath visible in front of me. I wobbled on my legs before collapsing on the floor, the hard tile unforgiving, and almost strong enough to shatter my feeble bones. People walked on by, like I wasn't even there, not bothering to lend me help. I shuddered with a barely controlled sob, trying to soak in as much of the sunlight as I could, like a starved animal. I saw Jester's reflection appear in the window of the front office, his voice still ringing out above all the noise as he trapezed along the clear glass.

"She shuts out the night...and tries to close her eyes. She can find daylight, then she'll be alright. She'll be alright..." he smiled at me, eyes bright. "Just not tonight." The chorus rung out loudly again as he danced in the reflection of the closed door, beckoning me over, grinning broadly, adjusting his hat. I stood and slowly wobbled that way, hands extended, desperate for the light outside as I listened. "And she says, "Ooooooh, I can't take no more!'. Her tears like diamonds on the floor! And her diamonds bring me down, 'cause I can't help her now! She's down in it, she tried to rest, and now she can't win; it's hard to see them on the ground! Her diamonds falling!"

I stumbled up to the door and reached for his reflection, which faded out of sight as the door opened, the sunset lighting me like a spotlight. I stumbled into the parking lot and fell on my knees, the rough pavement tearing through my soaked jeans into my skin, a bit of blood mixing in with the water. I shook uncontrollably as I grabbed the buggy rack, standing, staring at the sun as hard as I could, the light so warm I felt like it was flowing through me. Jester appeared in a car's reflection, looking at me with half closed eyes, smiling welcoming.

"Ooooooh, I can't take no more, her tears like diamonds on the floor! And her diamonds bring me down, 'cause I can't help her now! She's down in it, she tried to rest, and now she can't win; it's hard to see them on the ground!" he sang, his voice shattering the airwaves around me like a hammer. "Her diamonds falling down!"

I listened to the soft outro to the song as I clung to the buggy rack, shaking, trying to soak up at much sunlight as I could. The air around me was so warm, the birds flying overhead, the sky overcast in shades of blue, orange, red, yellow, and purple, like some kind of canvas only God Himself could have painted. A smile, frail smile stretched across my lips as I watched the sun bathe the sky in light for the last time that day, listening to the heavenly voice singing next to me. Before I drifted back into consciousness, I remember standing openly in the parking lot, opening my arms to embrace the sky and all its warmth, eyes closed as tears streaked my face. Jester leaned on the rack behind me with a grin, head tilted, as he finished the song with these words:

"I can't take these diamonds falling down..."